{"id":1747,"date":"2017-09-14T15:41:15","date_gmt":"2017-09-14T15:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.wordpress.com\/?p=1747"},"modified":"2017-09-14T15:41:15","modified_gmt":"2017-09-14T15:41:15","slug":"trusting-the-delay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/?p=1747","title":{"rendered":"Trusting the Delay"},"content":{"rendered":"

I think this Blog makes more sense if you read last week’s Waiting<\/strong><\/a> first. \u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

We are remodeling our house. \u00a0Bit by bit work is accomplished in the left over spaces of our regular lives. \u00a0Needless to say, it’s taking a long time.\u00a0 From the beginning I knew it would be slow going and by some kind work of God I have been fairly \u00a0patient. \u00a0We’re far enough along in the family room to envision the finished project and I’m getting excited. \u00a0That makes it harder to wait. \u00a0To avoid impatience and husband nagging, I have to keep shifting my focus from the anticipated finished project back to surrendering to God’s timing. \u00a0I remind myself that we are busy living our lives and that house beautification is not our number one priority. \u00a0This bit of self talk helps to settle me down and return me to waiting and trusting that He is doing something right now, while the project trickles forward, that is more important than having a lovely new family room.<\/p>\n

Understanding the desires of our own hearts is an essential step on our way to the life we are made for. \u00a0These desires must be turned over to God with regularity for His wisdom and timing. \u00a0For when we gaze too long at a desired thing, anything other than God, we can, and do, develop an attachment that can enslave us. \u00a0If we continue to focus on this desire it can grow to an obsession or compulsion and from there, an addiction. \u00a0It is a process that creeps up on us, understood and recognized once we are in too deep. \u00a0The enslavement happens when we gaze (with eyes, mind or heart) so often and for so long, that the desire feels essential for life. \u00a0And when something feels essential for life, we will go to great lengths, often foolishly, to get what we want.<\/p>\n

This is where waiting on the Lord comes in. \u00a0When we seek God’s timing, we are saying, “You know when the best time for me to have ________________ is, so that’s when I want it.” Fill in the blank however you like: \u00a0a new home, a baby, a best friend, a better job, a chance to travel, reconciliation for a broken relationship, health and healing. \u00a0While we are waiting, God will, if we let Him, chip away at false hopes that will not satisfy, clarifying and purifying our understanding of what will bring about life.<\/p>\n

In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus talks about how our Heavenly Father sees and cares for our needs. \u00a0Our job is to first seek Him and His kingdom. \u00a0And that is not a job most of us do naturally. \u00a0We have to keep practicing putting God first, while trusting He sees and cares for our needs and our wants. \u00a0Day after day we remind ourselves of His goodness and faithfulness. \u00a0We grow into a rich faith and hope slowly and most of that growth takes place during the delays.\u00a0 It is at this time that we have a choice. \u00a0We can\u00a0kick and scream, pout and complain, fret and worry during the wait and gain nothing but discontent and an abiding doubt regarding God. \u00a0Or we can seek His purposes for the delay and even ask that the inadequacy of our foolish attachments and superficial affections be revealed. \u00a0Then we can, with His strength, turn from them to God, which frees our hearts to be more fully engaged with Him and His kingdom. \u00a0This is when true joy and contentment can begin to reside in our hearts.<\/p>\n

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I think this Blog makes more sense if you read last week’s Waiting first. \u00a0 We are remodeling our house. \u00a0Bit by bit work is accomplished in the left over spaces of our regular lives. \u00a0Needless to say, it’s taking a long time.\u00a0 From the beginning I knew it would be slow going and by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1747"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1747\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}